Men's Basketball Falls to Brown in Monday Matinee
CCSU is off until Sunday when they travel to UConn
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team dropped to 2-9 overall on the season with a 67-55 home loss to Brown on Monday afternoon. The loss is the second straight for the Blue Devils who are now 2-2 in their last four games. Brown improves to 6-6 overall on the season.
Sophmore Matt Mobley led the offense for the Blue Devils with 22 points, his sixth 20 point game of the season. Senior Faronte Drakeford added 13 points and six rebounds in the loss.
The Bears hit nine threes in the game, going 9-for-20 from behind the arc and they shot 46 percent from the floor, making 23-of-50. The win is the third straight for the Bears who beat Providence by 10 in their last game.
Central shot just 32.3 percent from the floor, making 20-of-62, and just 4-of-13 from three point land. Mobley had a pair of threes on his way to a game-high 22 points. He also had three steals and a pair of blocks.
Brown shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and made four threes, while the Blue Devils were just 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from the field, including 6-of-22 from inside three point land.
Brown led 36-21 at the half, but a run by the Blue Devils in the second half cut the Bear lead to 52-46 with 8:37 to play in the second period. A 12-5 run for the Blue Devils helped get them within six, but the Bears answered in a big way. An 11-0 run by Brown pushed the lead back to 63-46 with 4:17 to play. Central could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Mobley's 22 led all scorers. Drakeford added 13 and six boards while junior Brandon Peel had six points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Brown was led by Steve Spieth who had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Tavon Blackmon added 16 points and Cedric Kuakumsah had 13 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Brown held a 43-31 advantage in rebounds in the game, including 11 on the offensive end of the floor that led to 15 second chance points. Central turned the ball over just 10 times but had only eight assists.
The Blue Devils return to action on Sunday on the road at the XL Center in Hartford as they face UConn beginning at 1 p.m. The meeting is the first for the two teams in 11 seasons. The game will be televised live on ESPN3.
